Winning Ticket

I once heard the following old (well, maybe not so old) story:

A rabbi was despondent because his synagogue was having rough times financially. He saw all of the good that his synagogue could do in the community--programs to help the poor; classes to teach God's word; ministries for troubled members of the synagogue--if only they had a healthy bottom line. Finally he came upon a solution.

Every night he prayed, "Dear God, we can do so much good here if only we had some money to cover our expenses. Please let me win the lottery so that we can do your work."

For weeks and weeks he prayed, fervently and sincerely asking for Divine fortune, but to no avail. Finally he let his frustration get the better of him, and that night he prayed, "Dear God, for weeks now I have been imploring you to let me win the lottery. We can do so much work for these people if only we had the money. Why do you not grant me this request."

Suddenly, a voice boomed within his room, "So meet me half-way, Rabbi, at least buy a ticket."

(Disclaimer: I hope I haven't offended anyone by using a rabbi in this story. Feel free to substitute a Catholic priest, Protestant minister, Buddhist monk, or whichever form of clergy you please as the story's protagonist if you prefer.)

Have you ever felt so frustrated with your financial position that you prayed for some heavenly help? I know that I have. But let me ask you: did you buy your ticket?

Of course, I'm not referring to buying an actual lottery ticket; I mean, have you taken any steps to increase your income so you can afford the things you want or want to do? Remember, nothing in life is available just for the asking. (Well, almost nothing, and certainly nothing worth having.) Every lottery windfall comes only after you pay the cost of buying the ticket (or, more likely, many tickets).

So what are the lottery tickets you can buy? Here are the two best possibilities:

• Go to school, take classes, or buy learning materials to increase your skill set, so you can be more valuable to your (or a new) employer;
• Start your own business.

The former is akin to hoping that, after you buy your lottery ticket, your numbers come up. You're still depending on an employer to agree to hire you or give you a raise if you already have the job. With the latter you have much more control over the likelihood of hitting the winning numbers.

I'm going to end this essay right here because, well, truthfully I'm too tired to expand on it today. But I do want to post this introduction to the "buy your ticket" idea now to get you thinking about it. I'll expand on it in a "Part Two" when I have a chance in the near future. In the meantime, please post any comments you may have about this metaphor. And read my prior posts on this blog to get an idea of what Part Two may have to say.

Thanks for reading this today, and I'll see you on the road to prosperity.

The Solution

Jobs, jobs, jobs. That's (almost) all we hear these days as candidates campaign for jobs of their own. Where are the jobs? How do we create jobs? Why aren't we creating jobs? Who is it that creates jobs, anyway? These are vital questions for the United States' economy, as millions of people are currently un- or under-employed. We must find a way to get these people earning incomes to support themselves and their families, and to lessen the strain on the government's safety net programs. But by focusing solely on jobs, we, as a society, are missing the boat on a solution that can bring everybody who jumps on board (and puts forth the necessary effort, of course) the income they need and boost the nation's economy. Regular readers of this blog will already know what this overlooked solution is: Direct Sales.

Before I get into how direct sales can solve the country's (and the world's?) economic shortfalls, let me first give you a thumbnail sketch of how the model works.

Companies that produce a product or service can go the "traditional" sales route, spending large sums of money on advertising and employing a team of salespeople to find customers. Or they can opt for direct sales (a.k.a. "Network Marketing", a.k.a. "Multi-Level Marketing", or MLM) and attract a sales force of independent representatives (IRs) who want to build their own businesses and live life on their own terms, without being beholden to a traditional job. These IRs then do the work of finding customers and additional IRs.

When an independent representative brings in a new IR into the network, that new IR takes a spot "below" her in the network structure, becoming part of her team, or "downline". He is part of what is known as her "first level". And as the newbie finds new members for his own downline, they also become a part of hers as well, on her "second level". As this process continues, the IR's team builds multiple levels, hence the Multi-Level Marketing moniker.

Each independent representative earns commissions for the sales she makes, as well as from the sales made by her downline. The larger and more successful her downline, the more she will earn in commissions. So it is well in her interest to encourage and assist her downline in building their businesses. That's one thing that makes the direct sales business model so much better than "normal" jobs"--everybody is energized by helping each other build their businesses, especially when they are promoting a product or service that they really believe in.

By the way, the commissions you earn from sales made by your downline are what is known as "passive income", the best kind of income there is. You did the hard work once to build your team, and you now earn income every week or month from your downline's sales without having to put the hard effort into it. You will, of course, have to do some work to keep everyone motivated and replace lost IRs and customers, but not as much as the first push to build your team.

So that's how the direct sales model works. But how can it help save the economy and the people most adversely affected by it? I hope by reading the paragraphs above that the answer is obvious. If everyone (adults 18 and over) were to:

• Drop any fears and misconceptions they have about direct sales,
• Join a direct sales network of a product or service they love,
• Build and foster a team of their own,
• Buy products and services from their friends and relatives who have their own direct sales businesses for other products, and
• Promote the direct sales business model to everyone they meet,

imagine the possibilities. I did a little of that in a previous posting, Imagine. I'll wait while you click over and read that...

...OK, I see you're back. To continue, beyond the financial help to the individual, the national economy will improve as more and more people have more and more income at their disposal and fewer and fewer people need government assistance.

Of course, we have hurdles to overcome to get direct sales going to the level I envision (and promote) here. The biggest ones in my estimation are:

• Current misconceptions about the industry, and
• How to bring in people who may not have money on hand to cover the modest costs required to start in most MLMs.

I see a place for the government in helping out with these issues, since it is in the nation's interest for its citizens to be generating income that they can: a. pay taxes on, and b. spend. I can see a national campaign, backed by the government, to promote the industry as what it is, a terrific, low-cost way to own your own business. I can also see the Small Business Administration offering loans to cover the start-up costs. Since you can join many--if not most--MLMs for less than $1000, such loans would not be much of a blip on the nation's budget.

So that's how we fix the economy. It saddens me that so many people are focused on jobs as their sole means for putting food on their table--and even getting a table to put food on--when another, better solution is so readily available. What do you think?

Going Legit

Hey there! It's been a while (again) since I last composed something for you to read here. I have to chalk that up (mostly) to my day job keeping me too busy. But I've taken some steps with the Convoy these last couple of days that I want to keep you up to date with. And, as you know, I have two purposes with this blog:
1. to instruct and inspire you to pursue business ownership in order to build your financial future, and
2. to report on how my efforts to build my business are going.
So here's what's new.

I've finally started taking the steps to make the Prosperity Convoy an official business. That means I've submitted the Articles of Organization to the state of Michigan for Prosperity Convoy, LLC. I've also obtained a federal EIN (Employer ID Number) for the company. I tried to open a business bank account as well, but that has to wait until the state has completed the registration process.

The impetus for taking these steps now is the possibility of a good sale of the product of which I'm an independent distributor to my current employer. Now, I'm not using this forum to promote my business directly, so I'll just explain that my product is something that can--no, WILL--save a trucking company the size of my employer literally millions of dollars per year. And that means continuing sales. So if I'm going to enter a long-term vendor-customer relationship with them, I'd better have a real company in place to do that.

Anyway, that's the Prosperity Convoy's current status. Remember, I do want to bring some co-travellers along on the road to financial freedom. In fact, as many as possible. In fact, I want to bring YOU along. I believe I've found a winning formula, and I want to share it with you. There's plenty of wealth to go around.

Thanks for reading my brief update today. I hope I'm fulfilling my two purposes with this blog. Let me know what you think, and I look forward to seeing you in the Convoy.

E-X-T-E-N-D

Happy New Year! You have my sincere wishes for a prosperous 2012, and I hope that some tidbit I may impart in these pages may help you on the road to financial security. So let's get right to it.

Have you ever watched a top-flight athlete and marveled at their skill? They make what is so difficult when you and I try it seem effortless. But have you ever compared their form as they perform their skill against that of the average shlub? What is the most evident difference between them and us? I've watched closely, and found the answer. It's full extension.

When Justin Verlander hurls the pill, his arm is fully extended as he reaches the point in his delivery when he releases the ball.

When Tiger Woods smacks one of his booming drives, both of his elbows are dead-straight at the point of contact. He even looks like he's trying to get on his tippy-toes to get his body extended as much as possible.

Champion divers and gymnasts alike become champions by pointing their toes and extending their arms as far as they can when they're in mid-flight.

World-class runners also achieve much greater angles between their upper legs in mid-stride than we slower folk.

Of course, full extension is not the only reason the elite athletes are elite; they've also been blessed with God-given abilities of coordination and power. But given those gifts, they've only become the superstars they are by refining their athletic motions to include the full extension.

In a similar fashion, people who find success in other realms also use full extension to their benefit. You've heard the term "pushing the envelope" to describe artists and business people who go beyond what their predecessors in their chosen field have achieved. That is their form of full extension. They bravely go where none before them have dared go, and are willing to risk the failure that may lurk there in order to find the success that may also be there. But how does all this relate to the Prosperity Convoy?

As I've mentioned before in this blog, you've got to be a business owner to build your own personal wealth. And taking the leap from employee to business owner is where you will find full extension in your efforts to secure your financial future. Working a J-O-B for someone else is the work-life equivalent of us mere mortal athletes using "alligator arms" (elbows bent, shoulders all scrunched in close) during a golf swing.

Now, you may argue that you're giving all you've got--full extension--to do the best you can at your job. That is all well and good, but it's not full extension in terms of building your own personal wealth. That's full extension for building wealth for the company that employs you and its shareholders. Let's just hope that they appreciate your efforts as you make them rich.

To be sure, once you become a business owner, your full extension has just started. You must make sure you're giving maximum effort in that business as well. Do whatever it takes (as long as it's legal and ethical, of course) to get your business' name out there. Happily spend the extra time it's going to take to get--and keep--the ball rolling. Learn as much as you can about all aspects of the business so you become the expert you need to be to make your company a success.

There. That doesn't seem so hard, does it? Make it your resolution this year to make sure you're reaching full extension in everything you do, especially in building a secure financial future for yourself and your family. That is what I wish for you.

Thanks for reading this today. Please leave me some comments about this post and the entire blog. Let me know if I'm inspiring you--or infuriating you. I again wish you a very happy, joyous, and prosperous new year, and hope to see you on the road to prosperity.

'Tis Better to Give

Wow! How has it already been over two months since I last posted to this blog? I gotta apologize to all of you, my faithful fans and followers, for my absence from these airwaves. It just goes to show you how your time--and mind--can be monopolized when you trade hours for dollars, working for someone else instead of pursuing your passion. But I'll take a stab at jump-starting the Prosperity Convoy here now.

Although I haven't been blogging lately, I have been taking other actions to bolster both my business and my determination to find success with it. I had some time at home (a 10-day vacation surrounding Thanksgiving week!), so I had the opportunity to attend a meeting of my MLM vehicle of choice, chat with my upline sponsor some, and give out some free samples of the product to family and friends. (Remember, I'm not advertising that product and company in this space in order to let you find the product and/or company that ignites your passion.) But most significant for me was reading a book that reinforced how much better the direct sales industry is for its members than the corporate world is for its employees.

"Chicken Soup for the Network Marketer's Soul"*, by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Bill Hyman is a compilation of essays (and a couple of poems and cartoons as well) by individuals who overcame tremendous adversities to find success in--and because of--network marketing companies and the people in them. Each essay is preceded by an inspirational quote as well.

Let me point out that none of the essayists wrote that their journey to success was easy or quick. And I'm not trying to tell you that yours would be, either. But as evidenced time and time again in the book, the people involved in the industry truly want each other succeed, and will do what they can to help make that a reality. Ask yourself, do you really find that in the corporate world? Every story in the book made me want to be a part of that caring, helping culture, but one essay really caught my eye.

In her story titled, "Pay It Forward" (starting on page 252), Jan Ruhe tells how she used to work hard in her MLM in order to seek recognition for her accomplishments, her high sales volumes and the number of people she brought into the company. Then one day she realized that, despite her achievements, she hadn't found any satisfaction from them. Not being recognized at a big company event devastated her, so she decided that she had to change herself, but didn't know how. Her answer came in ten words from her mentor, Jim Rohn,

"Be so busy giving recognition that you don't need it."

From that point on she became the one applauding others for their achievements, rather than seeking recognition herself. It made a huge difference for her, and her business.

Now, I didn't start my business as a means to find any recognition myself, so I never saw myself in the light that Jan Ruhe did initially. My aim with my business and this blog is to help others (including YOU!) find financial freedom. But Jan's story pointed out one thing that I was missing in my plan: joyfully recognizing the successes--and honest efforts, even if the successes are minimal--of others. And I'll tell you, even from my still minimal experience with the MLM world, I see that quality in everyone involved. I have never encountered it so universally embraced by everyone in the "traditional" companies which have so graciously employed me.

All of this is why I'm so enamored of the direct sales/multi-level marketing (MLM)/network marketing business model and advocating it within the Prosperity Convoy. I'm sure once you leave any pre-conceived notions about the industry behind and do your own research (beyond googling MLM companies and reading the posts by doubters calling them all scams), you'll find that it is truly the best way for the "average person" to build passive income and personal wealth. (Did you know that Amway has created more millionaires in this country than any other company? That's not the company I'm with, but that's just a little tidbit that may change your thinking a bit.) And hey, why not let reading "Chicken Soup for the Network Marketer's Soul" be one of the parts of your research?

I'm still looking for the first (and second, and third, and so on) person who wants to join me in the Convoy and head up the on-ramp to the road to prosperity. I promise you it won't necessarily be easy, or quick, but the end results can far exceed your wildest dreams. And we'll have fun heading there together. You'll meet many, many people who also want you to succeed and will help you get there. And the most pleasure you'll get from the whole trip is from helping others reach their goals.

Thank you for taking the time to explore your future with me. I look forward to taking that exploration to the next step with you, when I'll see you on the road to prosperity.


* Chicken Soup for the Network Marketer's Soul
(c) 2008, John T. Canfield and Hansen and Hansen LLC
Published by Health Communications, Inc.
3201 S.W. 15th Street
Deerfield Beach, FL 33442-8190

Pass Beyond the Wall

I'm woven in a fantasy, I can't believe the things I see.
The path that I have chosen now has led me to a wall.
And with each passing day I feel a little more like something dear was lost.
It rises now before me,
A dark and silent barrier between all I am
And all that I would ever want to be.
It's just a travesty, towering,
Marking off the boundaries my spirit would erase.

To pass beyond is what I seek, I fear that I may be too weak.
And those are few who've seen it through to glimpse the other side.
The promised land is waiting like a maiden that is soon to be a bride.
The moment is a masterpiece,
The weight of indecision's in the air, standing there,
The symbol and the sum of all that's me.
It's just a travesty, towering,
Blocking out the light and blinding me,
I want to see.

Gold and diamonds cast a spell,
It's not for me, I know it well.
The riches that I seek are waiting on the other side.
There's more than I can measure in the treasure of the love that I can find.
And though it's always been with me,
I must tear down the wall and let it be
All I am, and all that I was ever meant to be, in harmony,
Shining true, and smiling back at all who wait to cross,
There is no loss.

"The Wall", by Kansas, is one of my favorite songs. I have to admit, though, that what drew me to it at first was the music--the tune, the instrumentation, its dramatic sound, and how well Steve Walsh sings it. It was a while before I really contemplated and comprehended the lyrics, but when I did, I found that I liked the song even more. Because it is a very thinly-veiled metaphor for how probably most of us feel as we struggle through this thing called life. And it's especially true for those of us trying to buck the system, trying to take control of our lives instead of falling in lock-step with the masses heading off to jobs every day.

You may have noticed that my posts here have been few and far between lately. Yep, that's because of my wall rising before me. A few of the "bricks" in my wall are:

• As a trainer for my company, I usually have students with me on the road, so it is difficult to find time to sneak out my laptop and fire off a quick essay.
• I'm a fairly slow writer; it takes me a while to come up with the phrasing I want to get my message across the way I think is best. So there's no such thing as "firing off a quick essay" for me.
• My laptop is about five years old now, and has periods when it's r-e-a-l-l-l-l-l-y s-l-o-o-o-o-o-w.
• And, of course, after long hours on the job, more enjoyable diversions such as TV and computer games often seem in order, instead of engaging my mind and composing coherent blog posts or taking on activities to grow my business.

I'm sure you have your own personal wall rising before you, keeping you from attaining your goals, too. But if to pass beyond is what we seek, we must not be too weak. We must be strong enough to do whatever it takes to tear down that wall and glimpse the other side. That's why "The Wall" is the Prosperity Convoy's anthem; to remind us to recognize the walls before us, and the rewards on the other side.

Let me remind you of my purpose for starting up "Trucker John's Prosperity Convoy". It's not for me, I know it well (as the song says). I want to free you from the lock-step of the masses. Not just so you can be a maverick, but because you'll (likely) never find financial freedom by trudging off to a job every day, working for someone else, making them rich. And the way that I can free you from that is by making sure you know that you do have options beyond being an employee. By inspiring you to explore those options. And by exploring those options with you. It's so much more fun to do things together, in harmony.

So are you ready to tear down your wall and become all that you were ever meant to be? To smile back at all who wait to cross? Jump on the Convoy, and I'll see you on the road to Prosperity.

Thank you for reading this today. As always, I welcome--and encourage--your feedback about my posts and the Prosperity Convoy. What's in your own personal wall? And what can we do to tear it down?

Whither the Job Creators?

We've been hearing the term "job creators" used a lot in the news lately. Those of you who know me and see my postings on Facebook may have an inkling about how I feel about that term. But I'm not invoking it here for any political purpose. Instead, we can take a lesson from it in terms of improving our financial futures.

The country's leaders are debating whether increasing taxes on the wealthy is a valid means to reduce the nation's deficit, or an "attack on the job creators." Here in the Prosperity Convoy, we don't care about all that. As entrepreneurs and seekers of passive income, we want to find--and even be--"opportunity creators".

As you know, the path to financial freedom is not comprised solely of a job. Well, maybe it is if you're a fund manager on Wall Street, but in the grand scheme of things, relatively few of us are. So we need something to supplement--and, eventually, replace--our income from a job. And, of course, that something is passive income.

As a regular reader of this blog, you know that the best way to earn passive income for most people is as an independent representative in a network marketing, a.k.a. multi-level marketing ("MLM"), a.k.a. direct sales, company. By becoming an independent rep, you've created your own job. You didn't need to rely on some "job creator" to graciously create a position for you out of the goodness of his heart. You created your own position by taking advantage of an opportunity that one of your good friends presented to you. And you can return the favor by paying it forward and presenting that opportunity to your friends. Ta-da! You've become an opportunity creator.

If you want to find financial freedom, or just some extra cash to make your life a little easier, seek out the opportunity creators around you. Then become one.  We don't need to worry about "job creators" in our convoy.

Imagine

Imagine that everyone in this country was savvy in financial education and knew that working a J.O.B. was not the path to financial freedom.

Imagine then that everyone (well, all adults having attained the legal age for signing contracts, anyway) picked a network marketing company to represent, the one that fit their preferences best.

Imagine further that even more products and services were available as direct sales opportunities to fill the demand by potential representatives.

I can see that if the above were true:

• we all would expect, support, and encourage our family and friends to market their products or services to us,
• we all would seek out the products and services we need from among our family and friends,
• each of us could be living at least comfortably, depending on how much effort we put into our chosen MLM, and
• we all would have more hope for the future, because we would know we were building passive income streams.

Of course, we still would need people to work jobs. This country still needs to manufacture goods and provide products and services that require on-site contact. Police, fire, and health care services, as examples, cannot be provided in a network marketing structure (although insurance can). Even the network marketing companies themselves need to employ staff to run their infrastructure. The need for en employment base is never going to go away. But if everyone did have that MLM in their portfolio, at least as a part-time supplement to their employment income, we would all be more financially secure.

This is just a short treatise on this "Imagine" scenario, but can you see the point I'm trying to make? Can you think of even more benefits of such a situation? Do you see any "flies in the ointment"? What do you think?

Thanks for pondering today's lesson. I'll see you on the road to prosperity real soon.

When You Come to the Fork in the Road, Take It

Today's post will be a fairly quick update of how things are going in the Convoy, rather than a financial education lesson. Remember, I promised to use this blog to do both. Anyway, on to today's developments.


Whoa! I just had a lunch meeting that blew my mind! I went in expecting to learn more about--and sign up for--one network marketing company, but found out about another that looks even better! I'm not going to name either company here, because that's best done in another forum. I don't want to use this blog to promote any specific company or companies. But please take from this story that it's good to be flexible and to evaluate opportunities as they arise. Don't just select one course of action, put your blinders on, and charge forward with no view of the possibly changing landscape ahead.

Now, once you do select a course of action, it is best to commit to that course and give it your all in order to build your business. Don't try to build more than one business at a time. I'm able to switch gears at this point because I hadn't committed to my original choice of network marketing company just yet. As I stated earlier, I was just going to sign up today.

Well, it looks like I digressed with a little business lesson there, after all. OK, not a bad thing. But let's get back to my story.

As I mentioned up top, I went to a lunch meeting today to get started with one company. I met with my sponsor and her sponsor, a.k.a. the first two people in my immediate upline. To protect the innocent, let's just call them "Jill" and "Tim", respectively. (Any other Home Improvement fans out there?) Anyway, as I sat down and we got started, Tim said, "I have some news". I thought maybe that the company had some new, exciting products or compensation plan details. Instead, Tim told me that he had been introduced to another, new company (and its product) and had left company number one. Not that he no longer believed in company number one--it's still a very exciting opportunity with terrific products--but it is easier and quicker to make money with the new company. Which is the point, after all, right?

For the rest of the lunch, Tim filled me in with the nutshell version of the new company's product and plan. Jill has already also joined Tim's downline, and I like what I've learned so much that I'll be following suit. Timing is everything, and for once I have some. The company is holding an informational meeting tonight, so I'll be able to get the full scoop and sign up right away.

So that's my story of today's surprising development. It's still the road to prosperity, but I'll be taking a different lane from here.

In a further development, you can now find the Convoy on Facebook. Just look up and "Like" Trucker John's Prosperity Convoy on there for another way to follow along as we work our way up through the gears. (Thanks, P.J. for the tip to create the page.)

Thanks for checking in today. I'm very excited about this new opportunity, and expect good things from it. And remember, I'm doing this because I want to help you build passive income to secure your financial future. A convoy's not a convoy with only one vehicle. So if you're ready to leave an uncertain future behind, start your engines and drop me a line. I'll see you on the road to prosperity.

*** EVENING UPDATE ***
I just returned from the information meeting for this new business opportunity, and it's even better then it seemed this afternoon. Both the product and the business opportunity. I'm all signed up and ready to get going. So stay tuned for updates on the Convoy's progress in this new business.

Get Real

So far in this blog I've been touting Network/Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) as the preferred method for creating passive income. It's still true that it is the preferred method--well, I prefer it because of relatively low entry cost and little risk--but it most certainly is not the only one. Today I want to discuss another potentially lucrative passive income stream, and that is real estate.

A few years back, right before the housing bubble blew up in everybody's faces--good timing, right?--I was trying my hand at investing in real estate. I had read the Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad books and latched on to his success with real estate as a means to build income and wealth. But I didn't study his methods fully and went at it the wrong way.

Real estate investors, in a nutshell, employ two methods for generating their income: flipping, and buy-and-hold. In flipping, the investor basically acts as a dealer. He locates properties he can buy cheaply, and sells them to another investor or an end-user for a higher price. He may or may not invest in some improvements to the properties. Flipping can be quite profitable, but it does not generate passive income, which is what we're looking for in the Prosperity Convoy. In order to make more income, the flipper needs to be out buying and selling more properties. If he doesn't do that work, he gets no income.

The buy-and-hold investor, on the other hand, buys properties with the intention of holding onto it and generating income from renting it to tenants. Her focus on obtaining such properties is the cash flow they will generate; in other words, the amount of monthly income (rent or lease payments) above expenses. The cash flow from the sum of the properties in her real estate portfolio is her passive income. Once the properties are in hand and tenants in place, she can sit back and enjoy the income (assuming she has enough properties to throw off enough income to support her lifestyle). Oh, and she will have a good property management company taking care of her properties to further make that income passive, to keep her from working for that income.

Back when I was dabbling in real estate, most of my focus was on the quick-hit, big strike--flipping. I forgot about (or was too impatient for) Kiyosaki's focus on building passive income. And in those days I also met and befriended many other real estate investors, many of whom like flipping as their modus operandi. And flipping, as I mentioned earlier, can provide quite the pretty penny; some of my flipper friends are doing pretty well at it. The downside is the need to keep churning the business to earn that penny.

Buy-and-hold has its downside, too, and that is tenants. Bad tenants can be the bane of the landlord's existence, for just too many reasons for me to go into here. And let's not forget about vacancy periods, during which the landlord has no tenants occupying--and paying for--the property. No tenants, no passive income. Active outgo is more like it in that case.

Tenants and vacancies are major reasons why I prefer Network Marketing to real estate. But if they don't deter you (and you have a good property management company), buy-and-hold real estate can be a tremendous passive income stream. And if you enjoy the hunt for cheap, distressed properties, flipping may be for you. But for flippers and buy-and-holders both, you may consider adding an MLM income stream to your portfolio.

Consider what the added passive income from a good MLM can do for your real estate business. First and foremost, it can provide much more cash with which you can buy more and more properties. Secondly, if you're going the landlord route, you can introduce your tenants to the opportunity, improving their lives and their ability to pay you if they join up.

Obviously, you're not limited to any one passive income stream. The Convoy's emphasis is for you to find the one you like and to give it all you've got to build that passive income. Once you get that one up and running (supporting your lifestyle), then you can add another if you so desire. Multiple streams of passive income are a beautiful thing.

So that's my nutshell take on real estate investing. The way the market is these days, an investor can do quite well. Good properties can be found CHEAP in some markets, making good monthly cash flow quite possible, if not probable. If you decide to pursue real estate, or already do, I wish you well. Just remember to focus on that passive income.

Thanks for looking in today. Let me know what you think about all this. And I'll see you on the road to prosperity.